Bill Bowerman, legendary University of Oregon Coach, Nike Co-Founder and the man often credited for the running boom of the 1970’s. “Bowerman and the Men of Oregon” is the biography of Bill Bowerman. It’s a good book, albeit a long one at 480 pages.

My main complaint with the book was the length and the superfluous writing of Kenny Moore. I’ve read my fair share of autobiographies, but Kenny Moore often times goes more into depth than needed. He starts off the book giving the genealogy of the Bowerman family devoting almost an entire chapter to his Grandparents, etc. Another chapter is spent on him courting his wife, in his younger years. I have to admit that I power skimmed through those chapters and I also skimmed through the chapters dealing with the Field Athletes that are profiled in the book, as I have little to no interest in the shot put, javelin, et al.

The most enjoyable material is the chapters devoted to Steve Prefontaine. Kenny Moore devotes a good amount of the book to Steve Prefontine, as he should. There are firsthand accounts as Kenny Moore knew Steve Prefontine, was with him in the 1972 Olympics, and he had a good relationship with Frank Shorter. Previously, I had read the biography of Steve Prefontine, entitled “ Pre” and there was material in Moore’s book that was not covered in “Pre.” Prefontaine is a vital part of Bowerman’s legacy and their relationship is well detailed.

Chapters dealing with Phil Knight and the emergence of Nike are also top notch. The book chronicles Bill Bowerman’s perfectionism and how he tinkered with making shoes with his wife’s waffle maker. I’ve always admired the story of Nike and Phil Knight, at the time Adidas was the shoe giant of the time and Phil with his savvy business skills and outsourcing production to Japan was able to gain market share on Adidas. It also deals with the struggles that Bowerman had with Nike as it grew into a major corporation. Bowerman was more concerned in tinkering with the shoe models and developing shoes for specific athletes, while Phil wanted to grow the company from Blue Ribbon Sports into the international number one athletic apparel company that it is today.

The other parts of the book that I found enjoyable were Bowerman’s trip to New Zealand where he met legendary Coach Arthur Lydiard and revised many of his coaching philosophies. The tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics and how Bowerman coached the US Olympic Team. Finally, an in depth account of Bowerman and Prefontaine’s battle with the corrupt AAU.

What I loved about the story of Bowerman is he was tough as nails. He wasn’t a “win one for the gipper” speech maker, he told his athletes flat out that he could not motivate them, that it had to come from within. He didn’t believe in coddling his athletes and didn’t even enjoy recruiting. At the time Prefontaine was in High School other Coaches were paying him visits, while Bowerman sent his assistants. Finally, he sent a hand written letter to Prefontaine stating simply that “If you choose to run at the University of Oregon, I have every confidence that you can become the greatest runner in the world,” Pre was sold.

I give this book 4/5 stars. Skip the boring parts though.